Osteoarthritis is a chronic joint disease in which the main changes are degeneration of the cartilage surfaces of the joints and secondary osteophytes. The main manifestations are joint pain and inflexibility. X-rays show narrowing of the joint space, dense subchondral bone, broken trabeculae, sclerosis and cystic changes. There is lip-like hyperplasia at the edge of the joint. In the later stage, the bone ends are deformed and the joint surface is uneven. The cartilage in the joint peels off and the bone fragments into the joint, forming an intra-articular free body. Osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative arthritis, is not actually an inflammatory condition, but is primarily a degenerative condition that involves premature aging of the joints, particularly the articular cartilage. Osteoarthritis represents the aging of the joints, so it is called senile arthritis. If the osteoarthritis is advanced and is in the large weight-bearing joints of the body such as the hip and knee joints, which seriously affects the daily life, consider surgical replacement of the relevant joints, that is, open major surgery. Here Dr. Ling focuses on how to hold the early and middle stages of osteoarthritis of the knee. In the early stages of osteoarthritis of the knee, the knee will feel sore and uncomfortable when sitting up and walking, and the symptoms will disappear for a while, but as the disease progresses, there will be activities that do not relieve the pain, and it will be difficult to go up and down stairs or squat and stand up, and you will need to hold your hand on the knee to help. After walking more, the knee joint is somewhat swollen, or swollen so much that some yellowish fluid can be drawn out. Due to the thickening of the synovial membrane and joint capsule, there is a ringing sound when moving and even “joint locking” until the knee joint is finally deformed. Diagnosis of osteoarthritis of the knee: 1. soft tissue injury to the knee or frequent weight-bearing strain on the knee; 2. pain and stiffness of the knee joint, more pronounced in the morning when waking up, relieved by activity, aggravated by more activity, relieved by rest; 3. persistent pain in the later stages, marked restriction of joint movement, atrophy of the quadriceps muscle, joint effusion, and even deformity and intra-articular free bodies; 4. friction sounds can be detected during knee flexion and extension activities; 5. 5. Frontal and lateral x-rays of the knee joint show lip-like osteophytes on the joint margins of the patella, femoral condyles, and tibial plateau, with the intercondylar ridge of the tibia becoming sharp, the joint space narrowing, and the subchondral bone becoming dense, sometimes with intra-articular free bodies. The treatment of early to mid-term knee osteoarthritis: early to mid-term knee osteoarthritis Dr. Ling teaches you three words, namely “prevention”, “maintenance” and “treatment”. The word “prevention”, as the name suggests, is mainly prevention, for some specific people, specific work environment and specific circumstances, strengthen the understanding of the disease, appropriate and reasonable scientific exercise such as joint muscle exercise, can maintain and improve joint function, increase the stability of the joint. Avoid mechanical damage to the joint caused by overburdening the knee joint. “In addition to medication when clinical symptoms appear, we must also pay attention to reasonable scientific exercise, avoid weight bearing, long distance walking and multiple trips up and down stairs, proper weight control, and braking or plaster fixation in severe cases to prevent deformity. Use handles and canes to reduce the load on the affected joints. At home, appropriate physical therapy such as heat therapy, hydrotherapy, infrared, ultra-short wave, electrical stimulation, etc. can enhance local blood circulation, relieve muscle tension and reduce pain and other symptoms. The word “treatment” as the name implies is mainly targeted treatment, tui na and massage are relatively conservative treatment, the ancestral medicine of tui na, acupuncture treatment in reducing the symptoms of arthritis has obvious effect. In addition, intensive peri-articular silver release treatment, joint cavity ozone lavage treatment and intra-articular vitreous acid sodium/sodium hyaluronate injection treatment are effective approaches. But as long as our patients follow the three words of “prevention,” “maintenance,” and “treatment” to treat osteoarthritis, we will be able to hold on and keep osteoarthritis away from our elderly friends.